A man armed with two guns was shot in the legs by St. Louis officers Tuesday night after a chase through the city that included an exchange of gunshots between police and robbery suspects.
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The shooting happened at around 7:35 p.m.
The officers followed the auto for about two blocks before it stopped on Harlan and the driver ran.
Chief Sam Dotson says two officers tried to pull the man over Friday night because he was driving erratically. One officer ran after the driver, and the other, a probationary officer, took two people in the vehicle into custody.
Police say the driver ran a few blocks and then shot at officers.
The suspect killed at the scene is described as a black male born in 1978.
Dotson said the man was wanted for parole violations and was a convicted felon and has several other felony warrants. No officers were injured during the incident, the officer who fired the shots is on administrative leave during the investigation.
St. Louis City is not the only local police department struggling to find qualified candidates to fill vacant positions. They say the weapon had a stovepipe malfunction. They say that dashcam video captured the arrests but not the shooting. “At that point, the suspect produces a gun and fires at least one shot”.
Two other people were in the auto, and they were taken into custody by another officer in the police vehicle. The shooting happened away from police vehicles.
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This is a Periscope recording of the police press conference. This is a common practice after officer involved shootings.
